The BrainyQuote Challenge
by K.B.Maillet
Summary: Before he was Chopper, he was a reindeer...but with a blue nose (Current Topic: Amazing)
1. Age

**Challenge** **: ** _Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_  
**Topic: ** _Age  
_**Characters: ** _Luffy and Zoro (Post-Timeskip)_

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"_Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been_"  
**Mark Twain**

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"Luffy...what are you doing?"

"Nothing, Zoro..."

The swordsman grunts, pushing his Captain's rubbery face away from his own, "Then stop staring at me, I can't sleep otherwise. Why don't you go bother Usopp or something?"

It was around early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, decided try to take a short nap after a long and vigorous training session. The weather was fair, clear blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. The stupid Love-Cook was busy in the kitchen, making something for the Witch which meant he wouldn't be bothering him for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything felt so quiet for the moment that Zoro decided it was time for a nap. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Marimo leaned his swords on the railing to his right and folded his arms across his scarred chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to a certain state of sleep where he could still listen to what went on on the deck.

Or he would be if Luffy would stop staring at him.

His young Captain wasn't even standing right next to him, he was just a few feet away but staring so intensely at his face that Zoro could feel those large brown eyes burning his skin. It wasn't so much the fact Luffy was staring at him that was bothering him as he could simply sleep through it with out a care (he's had people stare at him before for various reasons), but it was the intensity that was creeping him out because he wasn't saying anything...just staring. After a moment though, Luffy seemed to have decided to take a closer look at his face which Zoro couldn't simply ignore anymore.

Now very much awake and very much annoyed, Zoro glares sleepily at Luffy as the boy sat cross-legged in front of him, face set in such a straight and concentrated manner that Zoro knew it meant that Luffy was thinking about something serious, or at least serious to himself, "He's busy with his plants and he won't let me near them."

Zoro rolled his eye, "If you would stop trying to eat them-"

"But they look so tasty!"

"Don't eat strange plants, damn it! We had a talk about this before!", Luffy puffed out his cheeks, grumbling under his breath about how mean he was being but Zoro could tell that he was staring at _something_ on his face. Was it maybe his eye? No one has asked about since they've reunited after spending 2 years apart though he was quite glad that they didn't as he really didn't want to talk about it. Zoro groaned, dragging a large hand down his face before rubbing his temples, "What?"

"You have wrinkles."

The swordsman faltered slightly at the sudden and bizarre statement, he didn't know whether to be ticked off that his Captain is bothering him about his "wrinkles" or if Luffy was implying he was old, "I have wrinkles?" Zoro asked again, making sure he heard him right and when Luffy gave a single solid nod of confirmation, the swordsman wonders if maybe the heat was getting to the younger man, "I do not _have_ any wrinkles, you dolt..."

"Yes you do, they're just smaller now."

"Smaller?"

There was a moments pause as he thought about it, head tilting slightly to the left as if getting a better angle at his face. Zoro was beginning to feel uncomfortable, "Yeah, you had bigger wrinkles before, like WAY before."

"You mean around the time when we first met?" Another solid nod, "How could I have wrinkles before when I was 2 years younger?"

A lot had changed for him over the last 2 years, not only physically but mentally for him as well. His training with Mihawk opened his eyes...umm, his eye...to the fact that he needed to get stronger for not only himself but for his crew as well. He had to be strong to protect _Luffy_ so that he may find the One Piece and become Pirate King, he had to be there so that _Nami_ could finish her map, he had to give courage to _Usopp_ to become a brave warrior of the sea, he had to protect the Sunny so that it could sail across the world for _Franky_, he had to help _Robin_ find the Rio Poneglyph (course she would probably just get lost, even with his help), he had to be there when _Brook_ reunited with Laboon, he had to help _Chopper_ discover cures to every disease (which might entail him to be the test subject, most likely). Hell, he had to be sure _Sanji_ found his All Blue!

Zoro had to be strong to not only help but to protect his crews' dreams, he'd die trying to. Of course, he had to be serious about it too. He matured over the years because everything they were doing and everywhere they were going, he couldn't afford to be a fool anymore. He had been so close to losing all of them before...

_Heavy times lay ahead for you..._

"Ew, no. Not those wrinkles..." Luffy's voice broke Zoro out of his thoughts and the swordsman blinks in confusion at the boy's slightly disgusted expression before scowling.

"What are you talking about this time?"

"When your face scrunches up like that, you get these little bad wrinkles." Luffy pointed to his own face, "They're all over your forehead, it looks like the ripples of a blanket when someone first lays them on a bed. You're always scowling, Zoro."

"Maybe because there is always something I've scowled at..." He grunts, easing back into his sleeping position with his arms crossed but regarding his captain with a neutral expression, "Like you, as an example, right now..."

"No, you use to laugh before and get the good big winkles..." Zoro merely rolled his eye before closing it, thinking that maybe Luffy would leave him alone now so that he could enjoy his nap but after a moment of silence, the sudden and very loud exclamation of "_OH!"_ nearly sent the (unofficial) First-Mate into the water. He doesn't think Luffy is gonna let him enjoy his favourite pastime anytime soon.

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!"

"Zoro, laugh!"

"...No..."

"Zoooroooo!"

"I said no!"

"Captain's order~!"

Another tired groan and a soft palming of his face, "If I laugh, will you leave me to nap?!"

A huge, bright grin beamed at him with excitement and joy as the happy tight laughter of his shook Luffy's shoulders, "_Shishishi_, sure!"

But Zoro only frowned, finding a slight problem in following the order, "I have nothing to laugh at...though the Love-Cook's face is always something funny to look at."

"SANJI!"

"Idiot, I was just kidding!" Not really but he's not in the mood to get at it with the chef.

Sanji did pop his head out from the doorway to the kitchen to see what Luffy might have wanted but after he asked if he could have some meat, the door was slammed close with a, "I told you to wait until dinner, shitty rubber bastard!"

"Look, I've never been the laughing, smiling person."

"That's not true, you use to laugh a lot! Like remember that one time that huge fish jumped out of the water and swallowed half of Usopp?"

That's right, only the sniper's legs had been visible and he ended up running all over the Merry before bumping into the mast and falling over, rapidly kicking his feet in the air. It had been highly amusing which left everyone rolling on the floor while holding their stomachs as they all laughed.

"Or that time Nami accidentally ate one of Usopp's spicy ammo and stuck her head in the dish water?"

Zoro snorted, remembering not only that but how the woman chased Usopp up to the crow's nest all while wielding one of her pens, promising to gore out his eyes, "I remember that, I also remember the time you got your head stuck in the window after trying to break into the fridge." He could feel something in his chest stir, a spasm that worked its way to his throat to cause his voice to shake a little.

Luffy laughed at that, "Sanji was so mad!"

And Zoro belted out a hardy laughter as well.

It felt good to laugh, he couldn't remember the last time he had such a good laugh though he guessed it had been years since he had. Zoro suddenly felt a weight lift off his trembling shoulders, like all the troubles and dread he felt just moments ago had simply floated away in the gentle breeze. The more he and Luffy remembered all the funny things that had happened to them, both past and present, the more easy it was for Zoro to smile and laugh.

"You're wrinkles are big again!" Luffy exclaimed happily as his laughter died down, "Those ones!" He pointed at Zoro's face, to his eyes and mouth. He lifted a hand to touch his face and under his fingertips, Zoro felt the creases of his skin as he continued to try and calm his giggles, "I like those wrinkles, you should wear them more often."

"I'll try, Captain." Zoro once he calmed himself and smiles a little as Luffy grinned back before scrambling up and calling out for Chopper to play with him.

It was around the early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro decided it was time to sleep after a long day of training. The weather was fair, bright blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. Sanji was busy in the kitchen, making something for Nami which meant he would be busy for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything was so peaceful that Zoro actually had started to feel rather sleepy. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Frist-Mate of the Straw-Hat Pirates folded his arms across his chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to sleep, with the memories of all the good times playing in his mind.

_...But don't forget to smile along the way!_

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**So this is one of the few stories I have/had up that are being revised. It's also a test to see if people are still interested in them because if not then there's no point in continuing it, is there? For all my old stories, I'm saving the chapters that are finished and deleting the whole story because I want to have a fresh start. Call me weird but I like to look at the stats fresh.**

**The challenge is simple, I take a quote from the topic page in BrainyQuote and use that to make a fanfiction. I generally like to use quotes in my stories as I like linking things together. The topics are all the ones listed in "Quote Topics" and I will be going in order.**

**So if you enjoy this story (and there are 2 more chapters already finished), please leave a fav/follow or a review!**

**KB**


	2. Alone

**Challenge** **: ** _Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_  
**Topic: ** _Alone_ **  
****Characters: ** _Genzo (Pre-Timeskip)_

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"_Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much_"  
**Helen Keller**

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_8 years was a long time of waiting..._

When Nojiko had told them many years ago of what Nami was planning on doing, how the sweet young girl was going to try and outright buy back their village for 100 Million Beli from that greedy Arlong, Genzo of the Cocoyashi Village didn't know whether to think of the idea foolish or to cling onto that hope that somehow, Nami could pull it off.

He did, however, decided on both.

Of course he thought it was a foolish idea, not only as an impossible dream to achieve since someone would have to work almost their entire life to earn that much money, but also for the fact that it was highly dangerous. No one, not even another thief, took too kindly to someone stealing their treasure. Everyday, Genzo worried that one day, Nami wouldn't come back home to them. But at the same time, somehow, Genzo knew that Nami was the type of person to pull it off. She had always been very creative and resourceful, not to mention very clever.

Everyone loved Nami with all heart and never wanted anything bad to happen to her, even if it seemed that they hated her for joining the Arlong Pirates. It hurt him to have seen her, the same little girl that would giggle happily at the pinwheel that spun on his hat, the child who would smile brightly at the beautifully ripened tangerines that hung on the trees with her sister, the little brat who would shamelessly use the same "promise" that Belle-mere used to get out of trouble.

To see _his_ Nami run away from them with tears of pain in her eyes hurt worse than anything Arlong could ever to him. If he knew why she had joined that monster from the beginning, he wouldn't have been so harsh on her yet (and as painful as it is to admit it) he knew that it wouldn't have helped Nami at all.

It would have made what she was going through a thousand times worse.

Genzo wanted to hold her and tell her that she didn't have to do this alone, that they were there for her and that everything would be alright...but he couldn't because he thought it would just hurt her all the more. It was easy to do something for someone you thought didn't care for you because if you failed, it wouldn't matter as much but if you failed someone who cared about you as much as you cared about them, it hurt a lot worse. The burning and bitter pains that would etch their way into your heart because now, everytime you would see that person, you'd only see yourself as a failure.

Nami was anything but that, Genzo never wanted her to feel as though she's failed them.

So, even after the whole village found out what she was doing and started to cry out how much they wanted to help, Genzo thought it best if they didn't do anything and continue to act as if they hated Nami for joining Arlong. Genzo understood that if Nami knew that they still cared about her, if she knew that if she died that they would be upset, she wouldn't take as many risks as she did and they would be forever stuck in Arlong's gasp.

The ginger-haired thief was their only hope, they put so much faith in her. They all knew where she kept the money and so everyone made sure to guard it with their lives. If Arlong or anyone else discovered how much money was hidden under the groves, they would tear up the last remaining piece of Belle-mere to get it.

They wouldn't stand for that.

_8 years was a long time of guarding..._

But when the day had finally came where not only the Marines had finally heard their pleads but Nami was so close to obtaining her targeted amount, they watched as fishman and Marine alike crush their hope until there was literally nothing left.

Those Marines who tried to save them died.

The money Nami had stolen for 8 long years had been taken.

And when their only hope came back to them looking so broken and so lost, eyes red from tears she tried to hide from them behind a shattering smile, it drove them over the point of no return. They gathered in numbers, raised in the air whatever weapon they could get their hands on, and cried out vengeance. Of course, Nami tried to stop them, to tell that that everything was going to be alright because she could simply start over. But no more did he want to see her return to them with a broken soul, no more did he want to just stand idly by as one young girl tried to save them all.

If he was going to die, he was going to die letting Nami know how much he cared for her and how he wasn't going to stand for Arlong hurting _her_ ever again.

As the clouds turned gray, as though they knew of his rage and anguish, everyone marched to Arlong Park to settle things once and for all. Yet they couldn't pass through as two young men blocked their path with swords and telling them to leave everything to Luffy and the crew. Honestly, Genzo didn't want to do such a thing but he put faith in the kid (even after Arlong threw him into the ocean). Genzo understood that in order to save them and to save Nami, he had to have faith in Luffy. He and Nojiko helped Luffy out of the water and saw him rocket off to put an end to their misery.

And he succeed with making Arlong Park and Arlong himself fall and crumble into nothing but rubble, dust finally settling among the silence.

And for a brief moment, Genzo wondered of a lot of things. If they had tried to fight Arlong themselves, knowing that a bloody defeat waited for them in the end. If Luffy hadn't decided to help, if he and Nojiko simply stood there to let the boy drown. It wasn't the effort of simply them or Nami or the friends she has come to make, he couldn't see the outcome being very good if everyone simply left it to one person.

Of course, he could worry about all that later now. For now, it was a joyous time as everyone shouted out their pleasure and sobbed their relief that their nightmare for 8 long years was finally over. What they had to do now was celebrate!

_3 short days is a wonderful way to celebrate..._

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**As soon as I saw this quote, I immediately thought of Genzo and the whole Cocoyashi Village. Really, I loved the Arlong Arc, it was the first time in One Piece that I bawled my eyes out. I wanted to try something different so I used Genzo's point of view for this story.**

**Thank you to:  
whatsininformation  
Dancing Peach  
Myherogal22  
NamikazeMia  
fantasylovermagi**


	3. Amazing

**Challenge** **: ** _Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_  
**Topic: ** _Amazing_ **  
****Characters: ** _Chopper (Pre-Timeskip)_

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"_It's such an amazing thing to be loved for who you are_"  
**Debra Winger**

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At the beginning, he had nothing.

Before he was ever Tony Tony Chopper, he was a normal little reindeer...just with a blue nose. It was because of that nose his own family deserted him, left him alone in Drum's icy cold weather to either fend for himself or to simply die. He would still follow them though, they were all he had, even if it wasn't much. Somehow though, the little reindeer knew that deep down inside, they would never except him for what he was.

He was a freak with a blue nose, after all.

But whether it be naivety or wishful hoping, the small out-of-place creature followed not too far behind every time they journeyed to a new location on the mountainous island. They just ignored him, paying him no attention but always seemed to stick their noses a little further in the air whenever they were near him (It was the only form of recognition they gave him, anyways). Part of him at that time was curious as to why they hated him so much, he didn't understand why. What had he done to deserve his family's distaste of him?

Why did they not love him like they would the others?

Sometimes, when the winds were raging and the snow was so heavy that no one could see nor hear him, he'd think about that question to a point where it would hurt too much to think about anymore and cry himself to sleep.

Those times were hard for him, sometimes he had to go the day without eating because the herd would get to everything first before he could or even steal his food. They knew how hungry he was but they never offered him a single piece of food. One day, when he had went without food for 3 days, he happened across a strange looking fruit that laid in the snow not too far from the cliff side near the shores. He looked around to see if anyone from the herd was near, as they usually chased him around for a bit for sport, before opening his jaw wide and sinking his teeth deep into the flesh of the fruit.

It had to have been the worst tasting thing he had ever eaten, it didn't stop him from eating the whole thing, stem and all.

In the end, he didn't feel full at all. In fact, he had felt positively sick. His limbs started to ache, his stomach rumbled painfully, his mind fogged over with hazy awareness. At first, the young reindeer thought he was sick with something which terrified him yet at the same time, there was this strange sense of power welling up inside him. It felt like it needed-no, wanted to be released. It was slightly terrifying yet at the same time, exhilarating.

With a sudden and rare burst of foreign energy, the once normal little reindeer transformed into something...that wasn't exactly a reindeer anymore.

One of the most noticeably differences was the fact that he was now standing on 2 legs instead of all 4, his body was shorter but fatter as well as his head. Frantic for a moment, he touched the top of his head and was relieved to feel he still had his antlers. His snout was much shorter and more round than before, he rubbed his nose in thought before gleefully scrambling over on 2 unsure legs to the edge of the cliff where a river raged below to see his nose.

Nope, still a strange shade of blue. What was worse though was the fact he barely recognized his own reflection and if it weren't for the fact that the reflection made the exact same movements as he did, he would have sworn it was someone else.

This whole knew discovery, instead of freaking him out, intrigued him to no end and the more he moved and tested every movement of his new body, the more excited he got until he couldn't contain it anymore. The trek back to his herd had been very difficult, not only being unable to change back to his original form but for the fact that he didn't know how to properly run, but he made it back nonetheless and made an odd squeak of excitement that reminded him of the very young human children.

The results he got were very unexpected since as soon as he made himself known, the whole herd turned to see what strange creature made that sound before becoming absolutely livid, causing him to shrink back in overwhelming fear. This was absolutely different from before, he could tell, and it scared him. Soon, one of the strong male leaders hollered out a warning cry before he and several others came rushing towards him. Heads tilted down with wide antlers pointing right at him. He shook and blinked, confused and unsure until one of the males knocked him back with a powerful headbutt that sent his small body flying and crashing into a nearby tree. Course, they weren't done yet as he looked over to see them charging at him again and the young reindeer-thing had to scramble up on thin shaking legs less he be trampled on.

That was when he learned how to run.

Now alone, so terribly alone, the reindeer-thing wandered aimlessly with nothing but the howling winds and his soft cries to keep him company.

But he didn't give up!

If he couldn't make friends within his own herd then maybe (since he sounded and walked like them) he could make friends with the humans! All he had to do was to look like them as his current form didn't look so human. And so, he spent months working on how to use his new form and even discovered he could change back into his original form (though it was very unlikely his herd would let him near them ever again) and into a new form which, to his delight, looked a lot more human...just a very large and hairy human. He went to the local village, happy and excited for the first time since eating the _Hito Hito no Mi_ but what greeted him was far different from what he expected. The villagers shrieked in fear of a monster and it didn't take him long to figure out it was him they were afraid of. Even after trying to appear less intimidating, they still were afraid of him.

He was freak of a monster, after all.

So he ran and hid but they hunted him down and tried to kill him, shooting him in the back every chance they got. Now he was alone, scared, cold, and hungry. He just wanted the hollow and empty pain to just fade away, he just wanted to fade away.

That is, until a strange man had stripped down naked in front of him.

Wait, no, that's not a lovely image to imagine...let's try this again...

A man had came across him, bleeding in the snow, and declared with a strong conviction that he would help the monster to ease his suffering and pain. He wanted to believe him, really he did, but when he caught sight of that gun laying in the briefcase, his instincts told him to defend himself less he be killed. After sending the man flying with a strong punch, that was when the man stood up and-

Let's just skip that part for now. Instead, let us marvel of how the man introduced himself as Doctor Hiluluk after taking the monster back to his place to heal up. Let us remember how, after a small mishap with something that might as well been TNT, Hiluluk dubbed the monster Tony Tony Chopper. Let us know how Hiluluk taught Chopper a lot more than medicine, he taught him how to dream and have hope for better things. Let us think of how the crazy doctor thought of him as a kind but interesting creature.

But Chopper wasn't to sure if Hiluluk accepted him for what he was, a freakish monster with a blue nose.

It hurt when Hiluluk told him to leave after a year with him, but Chopper thought that maybe if he got the mushroom that the doctor wanted, he could be willing to accept him. Braving not only the elements of Drum Island but his own herd once more (which made him flinch whenever he thought of them to this day), he sought to find that single rare mushroom and if he died trying, it wouldn't matter. He just wanted to be with the doctor again.

Someone who would love him for once.

But in the end, he found it and brought it to the doctor, broken and bleeding.

In the end, it made no difference, Doctor Hiluluk died and Tony Tony Chopper was left all alone...or so he thought.

During that same day, a new doctor (though a much more crazy one and twice as scary) took him under her wing as a pupil. Doctor Kureha began to teach him and Chopper was determined to learn everything he could so that something such as with Hiluluk never happened again. For 6 long and difficult years, Chopper learned and trained under the watchful eye of Kureha with nothing but his own determination to drive him forward. As the years passed, he found himself growing fond of the crazy lady doctor and maybe she was too, maybe she thought of him as a pupil or something more but Chopper didn't know if she saw what he really was.

He was, for all intent and purposes, a monster (and after eating 3 things called a Rumble Ball he developed, there was no way she couldn't call him anything other than that).

But then _they_ came, frost bitten and sick. He took them in and they treated them but when the two males woke up, they called him a monster...just like everyone else. Except, this time was different. They called him a monster, yes, but seemed excited at that fact and it wasn't long before the Straw Hat one asked him to join his pirate crew. Chopper refused, he still didn't trust anyone except for the Doctorine.

When Wapol returned, Chopper thought he was going to lose everything he worked so hard to get but Luffy and Sanji fought with Chopper to defend his home and Hiluluk's flag while declaring the same fated words that crack pot of a doctor spoke to him. With a bang and a blast, everything was right again and Chopper felt a sense of relief that not only his home was safe but there were those who consider him their friend.

After one last attempt to tell them he couldn't join them, Luffy screamed to the heavens that Chopper was joining their crew. Luffy had accepted him for exactly what he was, a freakish monster with a blue nose, and expected him to be nothing more or less. As the Doctor Tony Tony Chopper sailed away from the snowy island with the pink glow of the Cherry Blossom light fading in the background, he thought back to everything that had happened to him and grinned.

In the end, they gave him everything he ever wanted.


End file.
